Seeing a man standing on a roof in a colorful costume isn’t a far stretch during the holiday season.
But when the man on the roof is wearing a blue body suit with a big ‘S? on the front and a flowing cape in back, it’s not exactly the Santa-like image one might expect to see at this time of year.
Nevertheless, the much taller and slimmer man seen singing and dancing to the ‘Chicken Dance? on the roof at Blanche Sims Elementary on Wednesday, was none other than school Principal Eric Whitney.
Whitney took to the heights to make good on a challenge he made to K-5 students, that they read at least 5,000 books from October 27 through November 27.
With the help of school Media Specialist Pauline Baldwin, the goal was established during a schoolwide Reading Team kickoff in October. At that time, Whitney promised the students that if they met the reading goal, he would perform yet another crazy stunt to acknowledge the accomplishment.
‘This is all for the kids,? said Whitney, as he climbed to his lofty perch above the school playground, as dozens of his anxious minions observed from below.
Whitney explained that despite the pressure of having to sing, dance and possibly fly, this year’s stunt was less messy than the one he was obligated to perform last year,
‘Last year I had to go through a ‘slip and slide? of clam chowder and green beans — while dressed as a woman,? he said. ‘The goal is to motivate the kids to read, and I’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal — almost!?
The theme for the 2006 Reading Team effort was ‘Go Above & Beyond, READ.? And that, said Whitney, is exactly what the students at Blanche Sims did.
The students were given reading logs to keep track of their reading at home. They were also required to record the titles of each of the books they read on a weekly basis. Each log then had to be signed by the child’s parent.
Over the course of the month, students in grades K-2 were required to read 12 books at their reading level. Students in grades 3-5 were challenged to read progressively more books, based on grade level.
In the end, the students had read 5,113 books, exceeding the students? goal and setting the bar even higher for next year’s challenge.
Whitney said he hasn’t thought about what next year’s stunt might be, but he’s quite sure it won’t require ascending to the school’s roof.